Auxiliary light device for a key

ABSTRACT

An auxiliary light device for a key comprises a base, a lighting element, two batteries and a casing assembly. The base is to be fixed permanently on a gripping portion of a key, in the base are formed two battery chambers, in a front portion of the base is defined a notch facing the shaft of the key, the notch is connected to the battery chambers via a groove, in a rear portion of the base is formed a threaded hole. The lighting element is inserted in the notch of the base, two conductive terminals of the lighting element are engaged in the groove of the base and extended into the chambers. The two batteries are disposed in the chambers of the base and connected to the two conductive terminals, respectively. The casing assembly serves to cover the abovementioned components and includes a cover, a button and a partition.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an auxiliary light device for a key,and more particularly to a light device that can be detachably attachedon the gripping portion of a key, and the consumption components of thelight device can be replaced separately.

2. Description of the Prior Art

No matter at night or during the day, people always need to open doorwith a key, and opening a door, during the day time, is easy. However,at night, doing such a thing is not easy, people must need a torch tofind the keyhole for insertion of the key, and then can insert the keyin. Therefore, it is troublesome for a user to open the door with thekey in one hand while holding the torch with another hand. To solve thisproblem, U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,248 discloses an adhesively attached keylight device that is disposable and can be attached to the head of anordinary key. However, the drawback of this conventional key lightdevice is that it is environmental unfriendly and wasteful since thewhole light device must be deserted when the battery runs out or whenany one of the components of the light device is broken.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate theafore-described disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a lightdevice that can be detachably attached on the gripping portion of a key,and the consumption components of the light device can be replacedseparately.

An auxiliary light device for a key in accordance with the presentinvention comprises a base, a lighting element, two batteries and acasing assembly; wherein:

the base is a block whose base is to be fixed permanently on a grippingportion of a key, in a center-left and a center-right portions of thebase is formed a battery chamber, respectively, in a front portion ofthe base is defined a notch facing the shaft of the key, the notch isconnected to the battery chambers via a groove, in a rear portion of thebase is formed a threaded hole;

the lighting element has a bulb inserted in the notch of the base, twoconductive terminals of the lighting element are engaged in the grooveof the base 1 and extended into the chambers;

the two batteries are disposed in the chambers of the base and connectedto the two conductive terminals, respectively, in such a manner that apositive electrode of one battery faces downward and a negativeelectrode of another battery faces downward; and

the casing assembly serves to cover the abovementioned components andincludes a cover, a button and a partition.

The base is permanently glued to the gripping portion of a key, anddetachable casing assembly allows for easy replacement of theconsumption material, so that the service life of the key light deviceis prolonged, furthermore, it is environmental friendly.

The present invention will become more obvious from the followingdescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodimentin accordance with the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a key with an auxiliary light device for a key inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the auxiliary light device for a key inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a transverse cross sectional view of the auxiliary lightdevice for a key in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the auxiliary lightdevice for a key in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is an assembly view of the auxiliary light device for a key inaccordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, an auxiliary light device for a key inaccordance with the present invention is shown and comprises a base 1, alighting element 2, two batteries 3 and a casing assembly 4.

The base 1 is a block whose base can be fixed permanently on thegripping portion a1 of a key a, in a center-left and a center-rightportions of the base 1 is formed a battery chamber 11, respectively. Andin a front portion of the base 1 is defined a notch 12 facing the shafta2 of the key a, and the notch 12 is connected to the battery chambers11 via a groove 13. In a rear portion of the base 1 is formed a threadedhole 14.

The lighting element 2 can be a mini light emitting diode (LED), and thebulb 21 of the lighting element 2 is inserted in the notch 12 of thebase 1 in such a manner that the bulb 21 partially protrudes out of thenotch 12 and a flange 22 at the rear end of the bulb 21 abuts againstthe inner wall of the notch 12, thus preventing the disengagement of thelighting element 2 out of the notch 12. The lighting element 2 has twoconductive terminals 23 to be engaged in the groove 13 of the base 1 andextended into the chambers 11.

The two batteries 3 are disposed in the chambers 11 of the base 1 andconnected to the two conductive terminals 23, respectively, in such amanner that the positive electrode of one battery faces downward and thenegative electrode of another battery faces downward.

The casing assembly 4 serves to cover the abovementioned components andincludes a cover 41, a button 42 and a partition 43. The cover 41 isdetachably mounted on the base 1 and is formed at the front sidewallthereof with a gap 411 to be aligned with the notch 12 of the base 1. Inthe rear sidewall of the cover 41 is formed a through hole 412 to bealigned with the threaded hole 14 of the base 1, so as to allow a screw413 to be screwed in the threaded hole 14 via the through hole 412. Inthe top surface of the cover 41 is formed an aperture 414 locatedbetween the two batteries 3. The button 42 is a metal member to beinstalled in the cover 41 in a bottom-up fashion, the central protrusionof the button 42 partially protrudes out of the aperture 414 of thecover 41, and the button 42 is big enough to straddle the two batteries3. The partition 43 is made of flexible isolation material, and the topsurface of the partition 43 abuts against the inner top surface of thecover 41, so as to separate the button 42 from the batteries 3. In thepartition 43 is formed an elongated rectangular hole 431 being locatedcorrespondingly to the batteries 3 and the button 42. The length of therectangular hole 431 is larger than the diameter of the button 42, sothat, when the button 42 is pressed, it can contact the two batteries 3.And the width of the rectangular hole 431 is less than the diameter ofthe button 42, so that, when the button 42 is not pressed, it can bekept staying above the partition 43 without touching the batteries 3.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the light device for a key in accordancewith the present invention is attached to the gripping portion a1 of thekey a by adhesive b (that is coated on the bottom of the base 1), sothat the base 1 is permanently fixed, and the bulb 21 of the lightingelement 2 faces the shaft a2 of the key a. When the user presses thebutton 42, the partition 43 will be deformed, and the button 42 will assthe rectangular hole 431 and contact the two batteries 3, so that thelighting element 2 can be turned on to illuminate the position of thekeyhole, guiding the insertion of the shaft a2. After the user releasesthe button 42, the partition 43 will restore its original shape and pushthe button 42 back to its original position, namely, the button 42 iskept from batteries 3, thus turning off the lighting element 2. When thebatteries 3 run out or any component of the light device, the lightingelement 2 for example, is broken, the user can remove the cover 41 awayfrom the base 1 by unscrewing the screw 413 of the casing assembly 4,and thus the batteries 3 or the lighting element 2 can be replaced.Finally, the cover 41 can be reinstalled on the base 1 by screwing thescrew 413.

The present invention has the following advantages:

1, the detachable casing assembly allows for easy replacement of theconsumption material, so that the service life of the key light deviceis prolonged, furthermore, it is environmental friendly.

2, the key light device of the present invention is simple structured,thus it can save the production cost.

3, the key light device of the present invention is small and light, andcan be fitted on various existing keys.

4. besides being used on a key, the light device in accordance with thepresent invention also can be attached to other objects for the purposeof illumination.

While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance withthe present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the artthat further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope ofthe present invention.

1. An auxiliary light device for a key comprising a base, a lightingelement, two batteries and a casing assembly; wherein: the base is ablock whose base is to be fixed permanently on a gripping portion of akey, in a center-left and a center-right portions of the base is formeda battery chamber, respectively, in a front portion of the base isdefined a notch facing a shaft of the key, the notch is connected to thebattery chambers via a groove, in a rear portion of the base is formed athreaded hole; the lighting element has a bulb inserted in the notch ofthe base, two conductive terminals of the lighting element are engagedin the groove of the base and extended into the chambers; the twobatteries are disposed in the chambers of the base and connected to thetwo conductive terminals, respectively, in such a manner that a positiveelectrode of one battery faces downward and a negative electrode ofanother battery faces downward; and the casing assembly serves to coverthe abovementioned components and includes a cover, a button and apartition, the cover is detachably mounted on the base and is formed ata front sidewall thereof with a gap to be aligned with the notch of thebase, in a rear sidewall of the cover is formed a through hole bealigned with the threaded hole of the base, so as to allow a screw to bescrewed in the threaded hole via the through hole, in the top surface ofthe cover is formed an aperture located between the two batteries, thebutton is a metal member to be installed in the cover in a bottom-upfashion, the button is big enough to straddle the two batteries, thepartition is made of flexible isolation material, and a top surface ofthe partition is attached to an inner top surface of the cover, and inthe partition is formed a hole being located correspondingly to thebatteries and the button.
 2. The auxiliary light device for a key asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the lighting element is a mini lightemitting diode, and a flange at a rear end of the bulb abuts against aninner wall of the notch, thus preventing disengagement of the lightingelement out of the notch.
 3. The auxiliary light device for a key asclaimed in claim 1, wherein a central protrusion of the button partiallyprotrudes out of the aperture of the cover.
 4. The auxiliary lightdevice for a key as claimed in claim 1, wherein the partition serves toseparate the button from the batteries.
 5. The auxiliary light devicefor a key as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hole of the partition is anelongated rectangular hole, a length of the rectangular hole is largerthan a diameter of the button, so that the button is pressed can contactthe two batteries when it is pressed, and a width of the rectangularhole is less than the diameter of the button, so that, when the buttonis not pressed, the button will be kept staying above the partitionwithout touching the batteries.